THE YULE LOG

In 1966, Mitch's father, Fred Thrower, then general manager of WPIX, first thought up the Yule Log. Gracie Mansion, the home of New York City's mayors, volunteered its majestic fireplace—a move it regretted when a spark burned a hole in a valuable rug. Fred was looking to do something different as a holiday gift for viewers, and figured it wasn't much of a sacrifice to cancel the scheduled Christmas Eve showing of roller derby and substitute a three-hour televised fireplace burning with a loop of holiday music playing in the background. Since the Yule Log debuted in 1966, it has become a tradition shared by many during the Christmas season.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE YULE LOGMitch Thrower, son of the Yule Log's creator, isn't sure his father would agree with recreating it. "If my Dad was around now, I suspect he would have preferred the traditional WPIX Yule Log," he says, "because of the sentimental value for millions of people, and the power of tradition."

CHRISTMAS 'YULE LOG’“In a way, it was the first music video,” said Mitch Thrower, whose father came up with the idea, “and the star was a burning log." The log has burned for so long, at least in New York, that many anticipate its return as they do eggnog or ornaments.

PREVIEW OF CW SPECIAL "YULE LOG-- A LOG'S LIFE"“Christmas in the Thrower house was a very big deal... the tree went up a long time before Christmas. I think we started playing Christmas carols on Thanksgiving Day," said Mitch Thrower when remembering his father Fred Thrower.

HERE'S TO THE YULE LOG, THE HOTTEST THING ON TV DURING THE HOLIDAYS"I think if the idea is kept startlingly simple, it will have the best chance of being effective," Thrower wrote to his colleagues in the November 1966 memo that revealed his idea. Sometimes the startlingly simple ideas are the best, and in the history of TV stunts, the yule log has to place near the top.

YULE BE WATCHINGThe televised Yule log fire is a holiday tradition that borders on obsession. When you are full of bird and Bailey's on Christmas Day, nothing is more comforting than the glow and crackle of the flat-screen TV... If you thought Yule Log TV was just your guilty pleasure, you thought wrong.

WPIX-TV NEW YORK'S YULE LOG CELEBRATES 40 YEARSIn celebration of the Yule Log's 40th anniversary this year, The CW11/WPIX-TV New York will air "The WPIX Yule Log: A Log's Life," a 60-minute holiday special detailing the history of the Yule Log, the famous film loop of a burning log in a hearth that has mesmerized viewers since it first premiered on WPIX-TV in 1966.

THE HOT SHOW ON CHRISTMAS"There's a sentimental attachment to it," said Chip Arcuri, who painstakingly re-recorded the soundtrack for this year's showing. "When you watch 'The Yule Log,' at least for me personally, it brings back such poignant and personal memories of growing up."

SIX THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TV'S "YULE LOG"The program was created by Fred Thrower, then general manager at WPIX (Ch. 11), who wanted to give his station employees time off for Christmas Eve and bring the traditional fireplace experience to viewers in New York apartments.

YULE LOG'S DIGITAL FLAMES A REAL HOLIDAY RITUALHe [Fred] was, says his son, Mitch Thrower, "a kind of idea Santa Claus," a father who would sit with his kids in a hammock and look up at the sky and try to see stories and shapes in the clouds, "a decent man unafraid to suggest a humble, corny idea."

WPIX PRESIDENT FRED THROWER CONCEIVED THE YULE LOG"American viewers may be more familiar with the Yule Log, a holiday tradition created by New York City television station WPIX in 1966. WPIX president Fred Thrower conceived the Yule Log—a film loop of a log burning in a fireplace set to Christmas music—as a televised Christmas gift to New York City residents who lived in small residences without fireplaces."

LONG-LOST ORIGINAL 1966 YULE LOG FOOTAGE REDISCOVERED​"The Yule Log... was originally the brainchild of Fred Thrower, who was station manager at the time. Time wrote back in 2008 that they had basically zilch to air on Christmas Eve, besides a nighttime roller derby game. So they shot some footage of a crackling fireplace at the mayor’s residence, Gracie Mansion, dubbed over some carols, and looped it for three hours."